Two Halves of a Whole
by Leccra
Summary: Severus survived the war & has put the past behind him, but even with his new lease on life has grown bored & (not that he would admit it) a bit lonely. Artimis Dumbledore has finally made it back to the only home she has ever had, Hogwarts. Can she and her daughter put their terrible past behind them and find happiness? Could they be just the excitement Severus has been missing?
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note:

Ok, so when I first started this story I was so excited I started posting chapter after chapter without giving them the time they deserved because I was just so excited to get more of the story out to you lovely readers. So I posted chapters 1-4 and started chapter 5. Because of school, work, and just life in general there was a bit of a gap between all of the chapters I've posted so far, leading me to go back and review them before posting chapter 5.

I was _appalled…. _

There were more spelling and grammar issues than I could bare, not to mention I had practically no spacing, leaving huge chunks of words together muddling my dialogue.

I'm going to honest with you guys, this story is a beta nightmare. I still don't have a beta reader, so if you are interested please, please PLEASE feel free to message me! I have reached out to _A LOT_ of beta readers in the fanfic community but haven't gotten many replies and still haven't found someone that clicks with the story.

But I love this story and I wanted to fix it, so I have spent the last 48 hours meticulously reading and rereading chapters 1-4, correcting spelling, grammar, and spacing issues. I have taken down the original 4 chapters I had posted and this is the re-release of chapter 1. I have recommitted myself to this story and promise to have at least one new chapter out every month. If you are new to this story this may not make a lot of sense, but if you have been around since chapter one thank you for hanging in there with me!

As always hugs hugs and much love to me readers! 3

(Disclaimer thingy blah blah blah, obviously I do not own Harry Potter. Anything you recognise from the HP univers belongs to Queen Rowling. Long live the Queen!)

Severus rose from bed early that morning, it was still dark out and the clock read 5:23am. He groaned and stretched, feeling cracks and pops erupt from his body. He crossed the room from his large bed into the adjacent bathroom and kept walking straight into the shower. No need to stop and undress, an advantage of sleeping naked. Before shutting the glass doors of the shower he glanced at his bed, rumpled from bouts of fitful sleep and nightmares. He silently cast a spell and the bed went about making itself. Shutting the door, and turning the water up as hot as it would go, Severus braced his arms against the shower walls and leaned forward letting the scalding water hit his back, easing the tight muscles.

Standing drowsily he again pondered his bed, his now made, too big of a bed. If he really gave himself the time to think about it, it wasn't the size of the bed, it was how empty it feels to be alone in it…. _Not just in bed but in life_. And being alone in the huge bed night after night, plagued by nightmares night after night, was depressing. And although he refused the thought, it was a bit_ lonely_, as well, though he would never admit it.

_Stop overthinking things, you old fool_, he thought to himself, _being left alone is the only thing you really enjoy, so stop whining._

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he quickly finished his shower. He lazily went through the rest of his morning rituals, brushing his hair, clipping his nails, his morning piss, rubbing solvent on his hands in a vain attempt to gentle the coarse skin decades of potions making had caused, shaving, brushing his teeth, staring at the ugly scars that cover his body, partially the one on his neck-

He sighed. The angry bite marks that had healed and faded, but still distorted his otherwise pale, smooth skin. He tried not to think about that night, hated thinking about it, but every morning he had to be reminded, every time he looked in the mirror.

He still couldn't believe he had survived. As an afterthought, after his true loyalties came to light in the final battle, Hermione Granger sent medi witches out to the shrieking shack to "collect the body". Much to their surprise, Severus was still just barely breathing. It took nearing six months to recover completely and three before that for him to come out of the coma his body had induced. He awoke alone, with not a soul in the world to care that he was alive.

He tried to return to his old life but so many things had changed, especially at Hogwarts. Minerva McGonagall had taken over as headmistress, fine with him, he never wanted the title. He was offered the Defense against the Dark Art position, and declined. The war was over, and children should no longer know the things he could teach them. So he returned to Potions, returned to his dungeons, and returned to being the "greasy git" to all his nit wit students.

His life wasn't so bad now, it was far more livable than before. Knowing he had fulfilled his vow to Lilly, thus being able to finally let her go, he could move on. Yes, his life was livable, but empty. Most people still thought of him as a deatheater and a trader, which was fine with him, it meant he was left alone most of the time. Not having to fear for his life anymore, seeing as all of his "old friends" were living out their lives in Azkaban. He had expected the hatred if he lived, so he wasn't shock when people he had known for years turned their backs and severed him from their lives.

But others surprised him. Like Hermione Granger, taking Minerva's place as the new transfiguration professor, and head of Gryffindor, after she made short work of collage, and even shorter work of ending her marriage to the drunken Weasley, Severus considers her a friend. Which he found strange after a life never having one before. _Well, a true friend anyway._ And Neville Longbottom, who took over for Madam Sprout's post. After a death threat to never set foot near Severus' classroom or potions labs, Severus made his second friend….. Somewhat reluctantly. And of course, there was always Minerva hanging around, mothering him. He had made a nice life for himself, nicer than anything he expected to have, but he still felt lonely. A small price to pay, he thought, for living through not one war, but two. Five years after the final battle and life had finally become easy, and normal, a bit boring, but at least he was living it.

All this rushed his mind as he stared at the ugly scar on his neck, shaking himself out of thought he quickly donned his high collared black robes. He looked back to the mirror, his clothes sill swallowed him up making him appear larger than he ever could be. Laying in a coma he lost all fat and muscle tone whatsoever, waking up a pile of skin and bones. So much that each rib was painfully outlined and his stomach was nearly concave, his cheekbones had been hollowed and the dark circles under his eyes nearly black. He woke up unable to believe he had survived.

Minerva and Hermione soon explained how close he had been to dying, and how many people weren't so lucky. He took his second chance on life as a gift, and soon began to appreciate it. Starting with bettering himself, taking to an exercise routine and shoveling in as much food as possible to maintain a healthy weight, adding in his now mandatory weekly run with Hermione and he was healthier than he had ever been, and was rewarded with quite a few muscles for his effort and even the barest hint of some abs. Not that anybody could tell by the way he drowned in clothing, but he couldn't be bothered to shop for new. Merlin knew he could afford a hundred new wardrobes from his life of saving instead of spending, residuals from the potions he'd created over the years, and all the inheritance left to him by Dumbledore. He was simply too busy… some would say stubborn.

Checking the clock he figured he could have an early breakfast and have a stroll around the lake before heading to his meeting with Minerva.

"Excuse me. I have to what?" It was said statically, but Minerva could tell he was quietly simmering.

She would need to tread carefully now or he would boil over. He was still Severus Snape after all, Hermione's little makeovers could never change that winning personality of his.

He had eased up in some aspects, she accounted, like in way of his teaching. He now allowed wands out in his more advanced classes, and even brought the 7th years out in the forest on occasion to collect ingredients. He still took points far too often, but more equally, slytherin was no longer favored…. So bluntly.

However, one thing that was never going to change was his personal bounties. Yes, he had friends now, but always kept neatly at arm's length. Nobody would ever get close to the real Severus. He had too many secretes, was far too guarded even still, and had been hurt to many times. But this was about his physical boundaries, his obsession with germs and massive OCD. Beyond that his deep driven need for absolute privacy coming from decades of being a spy.

Which brought them to the issue at hand, _nobody_ invaded Severus's personal space or touched his things. No one. Ever.

But Hogwarts hadn't taken on a potion apprentice in over 20 years. Around the time Severus took post…. Consequence? All other crafts took one on every few years or so, they were overdue, and would soon be penalized for not utilizing their Potion's Master. To be honest with herself, even if none of this were the case, Minerva knew she would move mountains for this particular apprentice, the witch needed to be here.

Minerva realized she had been lost in thought for several moments with Severus glowering at her. He had ask something hadn't he?

"I'm sorry Severus, what was your question?" she offered innocently.

He looked unamused, and studied her a moment before going on. "I was merely questioning how you honestly expect me to offer up and share not only my classroom, my personal lab and stores, but also my _private_ living quarters, to house some young, doe-eyed, nit wit for an entire year?"

She looked at him with an exhausted expression. She had already explained that he would need to take on an apprentice or have one thrust upon him, he ignored her year after year, so now it was time to thrust… so to speak.

"Severus you knew this was coming. Why must you be difficult?"

Sighing heavily, he sat up straighter and addressed her bitterly, "I am a private person, and I do not share my space, especially with what could only be a Gryffindor alumni brat of yours. I do not have time or patience for such a hassle. With all the incompetence I'd have to endure you would be lucky if I would be able to function. Let alone continue with my private research"

Minerva was getting pissed off. "_Private_ lab, _private_ stores, _private_ rooms, private this and that. Severus I'm forcing you to let the girl sleep in your guest room not your bed. You are in no way being violated or inconvenienced, because this is part of your job, it is in your contract, and when dealing with school matters you listen to me."

She was building fire rapidly. Severus could clearly see the flush in her cheeks and the anger in her eyes. "So listen up," she continued, "the girl _will_ be your apprentice, she _will_ stay with you and assist in your research as well as your teaching, and you will be a gracious and welcoming host. Do not get any ideas, mister, there is no way you are getting out of this."

Severus looked stricken, he had never seen her yell like that, not even when she would scold him as a troubled, misbehaved adolescent. He was about to abject when a thought occurred to him, this is a women Albus Dumbledore took orders from. He composed himself and gave the barest of nods.

Minerva gave a brilliant smile at Severus's defeat. "Well good, she will be arriving after lunch. I said I would fetch her and give her a tour, but something has come up."

Severus eyed her unhappily knowing where this was headed.

Minerva ignored him and continued, "So you will see to greeting her and showing her around. Remember, right after lunch, in the main hall, don't be late."

Sighing heavily Severus glancing up at the picture of Albus above Minerva's desk, gritted his teeth, then replied, ''Very well. Who is the new pain in my ass? What is her name?"

Minerva avoided eye contact and looked away mumbling something.

"I'm sorry, who was that?"

Minerva sighed, "Artimis Rennay Dumbledore"


	2. Chapter 2

The clock was broken…. Was she early? Was she late? Had she kept Minerva waiting too long and she left ? Or had she simply not arrived yet? There is no way of knowing because the bloody clock was broken!

Artimis started pacing; calming her nerves by admiring the never ending array of portraits in the corridor. It was so strange being back, she thought. As a very small child she had looked forward to little else besides the day she would receive her Hogwarts letter, reading and rereading 'Hogwarts: A History' more times than she cared to admit. But her father had made it clear she would never be allowed to come to school here, opting instead to force her into homeschooling, something Artimis greatly resented him for.

But when she got a bit older she was allowed to spend her summers here at Hogwarts, with her beloved Uncle Albus, as long as she kept up with her studies. Though her uncle and father feuded from long before she was born, up to Albus' death, it still hadn't stopped her from begging for her summer trips to the wondrous castle. Then upon returning home begging to be enrolled, but she was never able to convince her father.

He felt _he_ could give her the best education, leaving no topic untouched, even those a child had no business learning. The workload was massive and the pace was grueling, but it was effective. She was a natural when it came to magic, but her father's obsession with knowledge had turned her into a true genius, but left a void between them filled with resentment.

Her father was so blinded by his own stubbornness, losing his sister had hardened his resolve to protect his daughter. In an attempt to keep her safe and guarded from the outside world, ironically, put her in worse danger. Those close to the family, those trusted by her father, weren't always who they appeared to be. One man in particular, Orin Noxium, her godfather, and her father's closest friend….

He had left more scars on her than she cared to remember, both mental and physical. For a long time she wasn't strong enough to tell anyone or defend herself, but after years of abuse by her godfather there came a time it wasn't just herself she would be fighting for. She told him late one night, when he came for her, as he had countless time before. He was blind with rage, threatening to kill her, and in that instant she realized it was his life or that of her unborn child… and there she found the strength to fight.

When it was over she ran, without a word, without a trace, without knowing if the bloody, mangled heap left of Orin was dead or alive. She fled, and never looked back.

She enrolled herself in a wizarding university in the states, under an assumed name. Not just as an attempt of distance and independence from her father, but to insure her safety from her attacker and her old life all together. But ultimately she ended up drooping out after only one semester, finding she already knew more than the curriculum could offer and was ready to give birth any day.

She found sanctuary with wizarding monks she had once met on a trip with her father. High in the arctic mountains of Vinson Massif she give birth to a beautiful baby girl, Arrietty.

They spent many years after bouncing around the world while Artimis trained under some of the greatest witches and wizards in almost every field, reaching Mistress status in a half dozen wizarding professions. She had a natural talent for learning and craft, as did her daughter, but neither had a fit outlet to use the obtained knowledge. So as Arrietty grew they continued traveling the globe together, searching for a place to belong.

Then the war had broken out, and Artimis returned Arrietty to the monks that had helped raise her, to keep her safe. She then turned all her efforts towards keeping muggles and muggle-borns safe, and fighting for the light, even if it meant sacrificing a bit of herself to do so… But sadly the war still took the lives of her father and uncle. Even if she had not laid eyes on them in over ten years, she had mourned for their loss.

But they had won, the war was over. Things were at peace once again and she could be reunited with her daughter. They continued the life they had led before the war, jumping from place to place, they had grown to call the monks friends and would visit periodically, but they never stayed anywhere more than a year. It was good for awhile, both mother and daughter settling back into the hatoc routine they called life. But then Artimis had realized she was nearing 30 years old, Arrietty was 13 now, and for the first time they were able to start a normal life, but neither of them had a real home to return to. So she had come back to the one place she could remember ever being truly happy, Hogwarts.

And there she was pacing the halls, pushing her mind away from her painful past. She glanced over at the broken clock and a new wave of anger rushed her, serving as a good distraction. Letting her mind drift to lighter subjects she continued pacing, waiting, admiring the paintings, waiting, staring at the broken clock, _waiting_…

She turned sharply and caught her appearance in a grand gilded mirror decorating the hall, sending her already nervous state into practically neurotic. She looked wrecked. What was once an attractive face, now wore hollowed cheeks and dark eyes from too many years of too much work and not enough sleep. Her hair hung limply, curling lamely around her, sporting a dark, tired brown, much to the likeness of dry, cracked dirt. She had lost too much weight and had let herself go. It was sad really. She had never been a stand out beauty, but in her youth she had been healthier and had taken better care of herself and it had reflected in her appearance.

She laughed at herself as she realized she hadn't bothered with her nicer robes or robes at all for that matter. She had woken that morning with a nervous stomach, and rushed through the morning on auto pilot to keep herself from having a meltdown. So she couldn't completely recall it, but surely she hadn't just pulled whatever wrinkled mess she could find out of her suitcase and tossed it on? But apparently she had. And didn't she feel a fool standing smack dab in the middle of a Hogwarts, of all places in muggle jeans, a t-shirt, and a old, worn sweater thrown on last minute to complete the disheveled ensemble.

"_What a way to be looking to see Minerva again after all these years,"_ She thought, "_not to mention meeting my new professor._"

After initially reaching out to Minerva, Artimis had exchanged numerous letters between herself and the older women. When Minerva had offered her the apprenticeship Artimis had jumped at the opportunity, not only for herself, but for the chance to enroll Arrietty in a the best wizarding school available. Only after she had accepted did Minerva mention the potions master she was to work under was far from easiest to get along with. She went on to state he expected nothing less than perfection in many aspects, especially his students. Though this made Artimis nervous, she was ready and eager for any and all challenges set before her.

Determined to put her best foot forward she pulled out her wand and muttered a few spells towards herself. It was too late to change, but she could work with what she had. Her aged, black jeans now looked newer and without holes, her grey muggle t-shirt fitted to her form, taking away it's oversized, boxy appearance, and mended itself as well. Her shoes were going to have to do, she had had them forever and using magic on them would surely make them fall apart. The black boots were dependable and comfortable, coming up mid calf, she wore them almost every day. She couldn't bring herself to change the sweater either, though she did unbutton it letting it slip causally down her shoulders slightly. The old thing wasn't pretty, but it was made for her by one of the monks at the sanctuary shortly after she had given birth, it was mid January and he didn't want her catching cold. The sweater was thread barren and too big, but it was always soft to the touch and reminded her of her daughter.

She studied herself in the mirror…. She hardly ever wore makeup, but right now she wished she did, so to have something on hand to cover the bags under her eyes. She dropped a hand into the leather messengers' bag hanging from her shoulder, fished around a bit and... _Thank Merlin._ She pulled out a brush and set to work calming her long, tired hair, looking in the mirror as she did so.

She was young by a wizard's standards, but she had lost her youth long ago. She was probably the oldest apprentice Hogwarts had ever housed. She looked old, felt old. She didn't belong here, just because it's the closest thing to a home she had, didn't make it her home. And Merlin knows she didn't need another certification or degree, with the qualifications she currently holds she could teach at Hogwarts or go on to be a private researcher somewhere. But her longing to give Arrietty a normal, stable childhood and her old hunger for learning had reared its head, so she decided to apprentice under Hogwarts' Potions Master. Seeing as it was one of the few courses at Hogwarts she was not already mastered in and her daughter's favorite.

"_This would be good for us,"_ she reassured herself, _"this will bring us closer."_

Her spirits rose as she heard the sound of distant footsteps behind her and she quickly dropped the hairbrush back into her bag. But as she turned brightly, ready to reunite and embrace the only mother figure she had ever had, she was struck with the sight of a powerful, dark figure brooding towards her. She quickly masked her disappointment, and put her guards up, schooling her face into a confident, yet polite mask, because whoever was headed her way was no Minerva.


	3. Chapter 3

Severus strode up the corridor of the great hall powerfully, still thoroughly pissed from his meeting with Minerva. He spotted the girl right away, staring at herself in a mirror. _Gods how vain_. And was she… was she really brushing her hair?

Severus inwardly sighed, people overly focused on outward appearance rarely held any notable intelligence. If he was lucky she would singe an eyebrow off in the first week and run for the hills.

Fixing his face into his most intimidating potion master's sneer Severus strode up to the girl, who had hidden away her brush and was now turned to face him. He saw a look flash across her face, it looked almost like disappointment, not the usual emotion associated when met with his cold demeanor. Interesting. Followed by a slight look of shock as she took in his hard eyes and demanding sneer. But as soon as it came, it went and was replaced with a neutral, if not slightly bored, look.

He stared down his nose ruthlessly at her as he spoke in his most cynical tone, "I am Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master here at Hogwarts. You are to apprentice under me for one year to learn and grow in the art which is potions making, if you are successful in doing so you will be awarded a certificate of completion and the honor of Potions Mistress. But as I said, that is _if_ you are successful, which is _highly_ unlikely", he paused a moment to see what effect his words were having on her.

None.

He narrowed his eyes at her and continued, "I feel you have the right to know, I do not want you here, I see you as an inconvenience to my work and peace of mind. I have no desire to have a fumbling, disruptive shadow lagging behind me for the next year. In addition, having to explain myself and my every actions while teaching and conducting my private research, in a vain attempt for you to learn something, is not only taxing but completely irritating. So, if by some stroke of idiocy, you still believe taking this apprenticeship is in your best interest and decide to stay, I will not be the only one miserable, I assure you."

He stared her down, mildly satisfied with himself. He maintained quite an impressive sneer while he waited for fear to flood her eyes, for what could only be a dumbfounded and stuttering response, or if he was lucky, for her to turn tail and flee Hogwarts.

Nothing.

She stared right back at him, meeting his gaze evenly, a small smile spread across her face, Severus saw slight amusement in her eyes. "Hello Professor Snape, my name is Artimis Dumbledore," she extended a hand to him, "it's nice to meet you to, by the way."

Severus regarded the offensive hand as if it carried plague. "What an insolent little chit! _Well at least the family resemblance has shown up_," he thought dryly.

Getting the message that a handshake would not be taking place, Artimis lowered her arm, while the potions master stared at her angrily."_It probably wasn't the best idea to piss off your professor on your first day_," she thought to herself, but at least now he knows his big, bad wolf routine wouldn't work on her. "_Best try to switch to a lighter subject, all the same."_

"Pardon me for asking, but is Minerva on grounds?

Severus eyed her suspiciously at the use of the Head Mistress's first name. "No, something came up that needed her attention, that's why I was sent to collect you."

Her face fell a bit, "Oh, that's too bad, she said she would show me around."

_Shit_. Severus sighed, if he didn't at least show the girl some of the castle he would never hear the end of it. "A task that has again fallen to me." He informed her as he turned and started down the hall, robes billowing behind him. "Follow me, and keep up." He called, not even looking over his shoulder, instead speaking straight ahead.

Artimis _was_ going to mention she already knew the castle like the back of her hand, Minerva "giving her a tour" was just an excuse for the women to catch up and spend some time together before the staff's welcoming feast that evening, but decided against saying anything just yet. Maybe this would give her a chance to score some points with the surly man. Perhaps she could get back into her professor's good graces, if he had any that is.

Artimis had to jog a few paces to catch up to him, but did so easily, meeting his long stride. Her body was long and lanky, so her legs could match his swift pace. He didn't seem thrilled she was walking beside him, rather than behind him, but said nothing, only eyeing her distastefully.

It was a fairly short tour, they walked in silence, and didn't go into any rooms, merely walked by them, Professor Snape would gesture slightly with his head as they would pass one door or another that he deemed worthy to include on the tour, barking out short words as he did so, such as, "kitchen", "infirmary", "library". He showed her the main courtyard in passing, and small, closet-like potions storage room used for overflow supplies and caldrons, located in the Tapestry corridor. They passed, what Artimis remembered to be the Trophy Room, a crowning jewel of Hogwarts, in dead silence. Accompanied by a partially nasty sneer, from the professor, which Artimis was beginning to suspect was permanently glued to his face. And with that they started heading towards the dungeons.

Artimis fought hard to maintain her composure, as they neared the end of the corridor. She very much doubted her training would start today, but to see the equipment and stores was sure to be exciting. If she was lucky he would go over what she would be learning and what would be expected of her. _What a thrill!_ Her passion for knowledge rearing its head with abandon, and it was all she could do to contain her elation.

Severus stopped and gestured to the blank stone wall, "This leads directly into the Slytherin common room and from there to the dorms. The password is currently 'serpent', but will get less obvious as the term goes on, and the first years learn how to avoid being locked out." Severus explained, "The password changes every fortnight, I will not bother myself to alert you of these changes. Current passwords for all houses are displayed in the staff lounge. So I suggest you utilize the notice board, and also learn how to avoid getting locked out"

"I'll be going into the common room?"Artimis asked quizzically.

"You will be going anywhere I tell you to go. As I may send you in to retrieve students I need to speak with or deliver detentions notices on occasion, I'd make a habit of checking for all the houses."

"Is there a password to get into the staff lounge?" Artimis asked almost too innocently.

"Yes"

"I assume that password must change fairly often as well, to avoid students sneaking in."

"Yes, every week." Severus replied in a rather exasperated tone.

"Will you be alerting me of the changing of that password? After all, I'll need it to check the passwords you don't have time to inform me of." She regarded him with a defiant hint of amusement in her eyes.

He thought he was going to terrorize her and make this experience as difficult as possible.

_Oh this was going to be fun_.

He leveled his eyes at her mincingly, but she continued meeting his gaze calmly unaffected.

"I suggest you to learn to bite your tongue, if it is not your desire to spend the entirety of your apprenticeship gutting flubberworms. As to your question, you will be informed of password changes at mandatory, weekly staff meetings" he said in a clipped tone. "This way."

Before Artimis could ask why she would need to check the passwords in the first place if they were to be told to her, he turned sharply and started walking toward his classroom, then hesitated.

A sense of dread washed over Severus. His classroom is adjoined to his office, which then lead to his private labs, behind a heavily warded door, of course, but his private labs then lead directly into his personal rooms. He had Dumbledore connect them years ago, so he could work and rest at his leisure. Well, also so he could brew during the night when sleep eluded him, which was often, without the possibility of running into any students. He knew it was inevitable, but he wasn't ready to let her into his personal space yet. And if he brought her into his classroom, the next logical step would be to show her into the research labs, and then his rooms, and let her… unpack and settle in. The thought made him visibly shudder.

He held his privacy above all, he hardly tolerated Hermione and Neville in his rooms, and they were his closest friends. Even still they had only ever made it as far as the living room and Severus could count the times Longbottom had been in his chambers on one hand. Hermione pretty much came and went as she pleased, most of the time without even the courtesy of knocking. Always popping in to either check on him, as if he would drop dead without her constant dotting, or to borrow a book from his library, rarely asking before doing so. Severus had thrown quite the fit, when Hermione first decided their friendship awarded her such liberties, but since when had anything ever stopped the stubborn witch from doing as she wished.

Severus sighed. The thought of sharing the one place he could truly relax and be himself was a hard blow. After years of keeping up a façade, living a double life, neither of which were truly his own, didn't he deserve a bit of peace. This next year would be torture. The thought of Dumbledore's smart mouthed niece invading his privacy and touching his things made his skin crawl.

He flicked his eyes up, _"Even in death, you are still testing and tormenting me… You old kook",_ he thought sulking.

Why did it have to be this witch? He had been in her company little over a half hour yet the girl was already on his last nerve, and what was worse, he seemed to have no effect on her whatsoever. He had glared and sneered, ignored and berated, and the witch hadn't so much as batted an eyelash.

_What was he going to do?_

An Idea struck him, he turn sharply and started back up the corridor, "Come", he said sharply.

A bit startled, Artimis started after him, again matching his stride in only a few paces. A confused look about her face as she stared at him with interest. He strode forward with purpose, ignoring her questioning looks. After a few moments it was clear he had no intention of explaining their sudden change in direction. A smirk spread across her lips.

"Are you lost?" she asked sarcastically.

His gaze cut to her as they continued to walk, and _man, if looks could kill! _But he stayed silent.

Severus studied her face as they walked, with a series of quick glances. He could see the slight resemblance to Albus in her coloring, she had his pale skin, and her hair wore the same rich auburn curls of his prime, hanging well past her lower back. Though her deep set blue eyes, half hidden behind hooded lids and thick lashes, were much darker than the late Headmaster's.

"_Bedroom eyes"_, he thought, "_she would be a fairly attractive witch given some effort, a shame she is so irritating."_

Her heart shaped face and high cheekbones gave her a delicate look, as did her daintily pointed nose. But her small square chin jutted out announcing a stubbornness that was not to be ignored. Her mouth was interesting, he thought. It seems to balance out the war between the hard and soft aspects of her facial features. The thinner, upper lip bowing sharply into a deep cupid's bow, yet resting effortlessly atop its plump, sensual mate, resting in a somewhat adorable pout. Severus shook his head slightly, "_Her young innocence makes her look like a lost pixie."_

They walked up a few flights of stairs before they made it to the main floor, and began weaving through empty hallways.

"Where are all the other teachers?" Artimis asked.

Snape eyed her briefly, and then replied, "Most have put off doing their lesson plans until last minute, others are enjoying their last few days of freedom before the students arrive. A luxury I'd be indulging myself if I hadn't been saddled with you."

"So you don't put things off until the last minute?" she asked, unwavered by his dig at her.

"Never. To do so shows sparse intelligence and even less foresight"

"You like to plan ahead." She concluded,"Good to know, so do I. I can't stand to leave things until last minute. Well… except washing dishes", she wrinkled her nose, "I despise washing dishes"

He looked at her as if she were a bumbling first year, "It's a simple spell. If you can't manage that I don't see how you hope to survive an apprenticeship with me."

She gave a small smile, "I do my cleaning the muggle way most of the time. Just because you _can_ use magic to accomplish something doesn't mean you should, at least not all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love magic, it's who I am. But we weren't given this gift to become spoiled, it's as much a responsibility as a gift, and should be respected."

He looked at her, and for the first time since she had met him, his face wore a slight hint of approval.

They continued walking… and walking… and _walking_. Artimis quickly realized they were walking in circles. She smirked. He still didn't know she knew her way around, to any ordinary newcomer the castle would seem never ending, and wouldn't catch on. It had been over 13 years since her last visit, but she bet she could still get from the astronomy tower to the dungeons blindfolded. Speaking of the dungeons…. _Why_ were they walking in circles?

"So, where are we headed?" she asked.

No answer.

"Are we lost again?"

Nothing.

Artimis made a show of looking around, "A lot of this is starting to look familiar, I think we've passed this painting already", they had, twice.

Still Nothing.

He did shoot the lady in the painting a deadly look, as way of telling her to stay quiet. This was not lost on Artimis.

"Are you s_ure_ you haven't gotten us lost?"

He spun on her, piercing her with his eyes, she could feel the anger rolling off of him, "Must you _constantly_ speak?" he asked through gritted teeth. She was smirking at him, which only added fuel to flame as he continued, "For the love of Merlin, stop badgering me, I am your superior, you _will_ show me due respect. And wipe that look off your face, you irritating, infuriating, exasperating twit!"

She regarded him levelly, "If you _so_ superior why is it you find the need to resort to name calling?"

He was seething. As he opened his mouth to unleash a spew of insults, obscenities, and possibly a few hexes, Artimis glanced at a large clock decorating the wall, and cut him off.

"We are never going to make it back to the great hall in time for the welcoming feast at this rate." They were at the complete wrong end of the castle, and three floors up, "Don't worry professor, I spent almost every summer here as a little girl, I know the way back, just follow me." And with she turned and started towards the nearest staircase.

Severus' eyebrows rose in shock. She had known he was leading them in circles the whole time. He should have known she would have had knowledge of the castle, but she had feigned ignorance so well. He should be angry, he was, but not as much as to be expected. It seems Dumbledore's protégée has a bit of a Slytherin streak.

He stormed past her, intending to put her in her place and leave her to find her own way, now that he knew she was perfectly capable. But it soon became apparent, he wasn't going to be able to, leave her in the dust as it were, letting her watch his dark robes billow as he went. Every time he would try to storm ahead the staircases would shift, leaving them stuck on the same flight until they settled, leaving her more than enough time to catch up to him. Severus finally gave up, and walked the rest of the way to the great hall side by side with the irritating witch.

They entered to find the great hall ablaze in red and gold. One long table had been set in the middle of the room, embellished with red silk tablecloths and napkins, intricate, golden place settings lined the table, dozens of forks, spoons, and knives resembling little soldiers. In the four corners of the room hundreds of golden, classical instruments shone brightly as they played themselves, delighting the air with a cheerful tune. The false ceiling charmed into a breathtaking sunset, aglow in subtle ambers and rich scarlets.

Artimis' mouth fell open and eyebrows rose in awe, Severus on the other hand didn't look all to surprised.

"Minerva's been busy", Artimis offered when she had recovered, "Is it like this every year?"

He looked at her statically "What do you think?"

"Don't the other heads of house mind? I mean, this _is_ a bit much"

_A bit_, he thought, "Gryffindor is thrilled, as you would suspect, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are wrapped around her finger, but as head of Slytherin, I assure you, each year it's a great achievement that I haven't set fire to the tablecloths"

Artimis choked back a laugh, "Figures she would take every opportunity to show her house pride. I remember being Head of Gryffindor was a huge deal to her. It must kill her to not be able to show favoritism as headmistress."

Severus snorted, "Minerva? Not show favoritism? Are you and I looking at the same room?"

This time she did laugh, loudly. Loudly enough to catch the attention of the Headmistress herself.

It was then that both Artimis and Severus realized they were the last to arrive, and no one was eating. Everyone was seated in lush, high back chairs, some talking, other glancing about bored. Severus sighed inwardly as he took in the seating arrangements. Minerva sat at the head of the table, two empty seats to her right, the only empty seats left at the table, Hermione sat beside the vacant seats. To Minerva's left sat Neville then Hagrid who had his own large chair pulled up to the table, that took up about three spaces. Minerva smiled at them brightly before resting her eyes on Artimis. Severus seized this opportunity to select the lesser of two evils and took the seat next to Hermione. Either way He would have to sit next to the little smart mouth, but he just didn't think he was up to being in Minerva's direct crosshairs also. Besides, he didn't want Hermione and the girl making friends, they would drive him mad within a week.

Artimis followed behind Severus to the table, but was pulled into a rib breaking hug before she could even pull her chair out.

"Oh my dear child, I have missed you so much. I feel like a proud mother, welcoming her daughter home" Minerva choked out, still not releasing her from the crushing hug.

She eventually leaned back from her, but still kept her hands tightly on Artimis' arms. The older women seemed to search her face for a long moment, a wide smile on her lips, her eyes reddening and rimming with tears.

"I feel like if I let go you might just disappear into thin air."

Artimis tried to give her a reassuring smile, uncomfortably aware of the attention the older woman was causing, "You have me here all year."

Minerva swiped at a stray tear and nodded, "Yes of course, you're right, I'm being silly. We have all year to catch up. Then after that, who knows…."

She glanced about finally aware of the numerous onlookers, "But now is not the time for all that, sit down my dear"

Artimis took her seat, and listened as the headmistress welcomed the staff back for another year, telling them how dear each and every one of them was to her, going on to compare them to a big dysfunctional family, which was met with bursts of laughter throughout the table. She introduced Artimis as Professor Snape's apprentice, which was met with a scowl from the man himself. Also including her relation to the late Headmaster, causing a roar of whispers to erupt, much to Artimis' embarrassment.

Ending her speech with "Here's to another great year at Hogwarts, let's eat".

And with that Minerva took her seat and immediately an overwhelming amount of food appeared on the table. In front of Artimis large patterns of tender meats including Roast Chicken, pork chops, cut of lamb, sausages, and large thick steaks appeared, as well as large golden bowls filled with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, and broccoli. She glanced down the table, this could feed an army, she thought.

A sense of guilt washed over her, this was the most decadent food she had ever seen, it didn't seem right that her daughter wasn't here with her to share it. Throughout the years Artimis had work hard to provide for Arrietty, and make sure she never went hungry a day in her life. But there were hard times, where dinner had been meager at best. When she said goodbye to her old life, she said goodbye to her family's wealth as well. She worked damn hard for all she had achieved, every certificate and every penny. Arrietty had seen her struggle, had learned what it took to make it in the world, and had struggled right along with her to make a life for themselves. It had been little more than 2 days and Artimis felt the absence of her child like a missing limb. Since she was born Artimis had been away from Arrietty only one other time, and that was to fight a war. It seemed wrong to leave her behind and then indulge in the beautiful feast.

Minerva's voice pulled her from her thoughts, "Artimis, my dear, eat, what are you waiting for? Are you feeling ok?"

Artimis glanced around everyone else had food piled on their plates and had started eating, some were even reaching for seconds.

"I just don't have much of an appetite these past few days, I think it's from traveling."

"I understand dear, you had quite a long way to come after all. Just nibble a bit so I don't worry over you."

Artimis scooped a small pile of carrots on to her plate, speared one with her fork and ate it. It seemed to please Minerva, since the worry on her face was replaced by a bright smile.

"Artimis, I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is Professor Granger, she took over transfigurations." Minerva said gesturing to a small, young woman on the other side of Professor Snape. At the mention of her name she looked up from her meal, a brilliant smile in place.

"Hello, I'm Hermione," the women said reaching a hand across Severus, who sat up straighter in his chair as not to come in contact with her arm, and glared at her. Artimis looked at the two quizzically. "Oh, don't mind him, he is a grouch."

Artimis smiled and shook her hand, "And here I was thinking that was his happy face. I'm Artimis. It's nice to meet you."

Hermione let out a laugh, "Oh, I have a feeling you and I will become fast friends."

_Great_, Severus thought

"I'm sure you will Hermione," Minerva chimed in, "Artimis shares your thirst for knowledge, potions will be the sixth subject Artimis will have certified in." Bragging like an overly proud parent.

Severus and Hermione's mouths both dropped, Artimis blushed slightly and avoided eye contact. Severus was seething mad, but couldn't help to be slightly impressed with the witch. He thought back to early that morning, how she had taken his berating of her intelligence in stride. _He was such an idiot! The girl is a Dumbledore for Merlin's sakes!_ Severus cut his gaze sharply and was about to ask Minerva just when was she planning to inform him his apprentice held more qualifications than he did, but Hermione recovered

quicker and started spewing questions.

"Six certifications? Wow, that's quite impressive!"

"Thank you" Artimis replied somewhat meekly

"In what fields?"

Artimis glanced around, seeing she had the interest of not only Hermione, but her professor and the Headmistress as well.

"Astronomy, Charms, Herbology, Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and soon, hopefully, Potions", she answered, slightly embarrassed.

"If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

"I'm 28, why do you ask?"

Severus regarded the girl oddly, he would have guessed, the girl was Hermione's age or a bit younger, definitely not six years older. It was clear she didn't take very well care of herself judging by the dark circles under her eyes, and unhealthy thinness. Apparently she wasn't as focused on appearances as Severus first thought. But she seemed so young, she must have excellent genes. The mental image of Albus Dumbledore flashed into his mind, at 118, the man looked like a healthy 70.

"Well I'm 22, I'm a certified transfigurations mistress, but would like to go back for ancient runes, I'm just amazed you could accomplish it all in such a short period of time."

"I was home schooled, so I was able to start for my first certification when I was 15", Artimis said, skimming the truth, but still opening up a bit.

"That amazing, what university did you go to?"

"All my certifications were achieved studying under private Masters. This is my first time ever going to a real school."

Hermione's eye brightened, "Don't worry, you are going to fit right in. And if you need anything please, do not hesitate to ask me."

Artimis was stubbornly against asking for help as a general rule, but Hermione seemed genuinely sweet, and she could use a friend here. "Thank you, I'll be sure to do that"

Severus again opened his mouth to address Minerva concerning the bloody genius sitting next to him, that he was expected to teach, but again he was cut off.

Minerva regarded Artimis, "So tell me dear, how are you settling in? I hope Severus has been accommodating."

_Shit._ Severus looked at the witch dangerously. She had the nerve to smirk.

"Actually Minerva, we haven't gotten that far yet," Artimis replied, nibbling carrot innocently.

"Whatever do you mean?" Minerva said, addressing Artimis, but clearly staring down Severus.

"Well, you see, the Professor was kind enough to give me a tour of the castle, but he got us hopelessly lost. We were walking in circles for hours, the poor man was just beside himself. Fortunately I was able to calm him down and navigate our way back to the Great Hall in time for the feast, and just in time too, a few moments longer and I was sure he was going to faint"

Sometime during Artimis' little speech Hermione had started laughing so hard she was coughing and Severus had begun to plot the murder of Artimis Dumbledore. Minerva, however did not seem amused, and was staring daggers into Severus.

"Well, since Severus seems to have lost his bearings today, after supper I shall escort both of you to your chambers, to assure you arrive safely." Minerva informed them in a measured tone.

"Thank you Minerva, but I think we will be able to find our way", Artimis said.

"Don't be silly, it's my pleasure. I can even help you unpack, and we can chat for awhile." The older witch said.

Artimis nodded, once Minerva decided on something there wasn't much you could do to stop her. The rest of the meal went on quite well from there, Artimis was introduced to the quiet man sitting across from her, named Neville Longbottom. He joined in now and then as Artimis and Hermione discussed academics easily.

Hagrid had been containing himself the entire meal, and when he was finally able to get in a word in, rounded the tabled to scoop Artimis off her feet into a hug. She had spent a lot of time at Hagrid's home during her visits and embraced her old friend. She sat back down smiling shyly as the half-giant regaled the embarrassing story of letting Artimis ride on Fluffy's back during a walk when she was 7. She was terrified of heights and had ended up falling off the beast and breaking her arm. She took the laughing good naturedly, even Severus seemed slightly amused.

Everything was going smoothly until the meal started to wrap up, the food had disappeared and was replaced by an assortment of teas and coffees. Many people further down the table had excused themselves and left. Artimis, Minerva, Hermione, Neville, and Professor Snape, were among the few left. All sipping their drinks, engaged in polite small talk. Well, except Severus who hadn't spoken a word the entire meal.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Minerva said, interrupting a conversation about snapdragon seeds between the young people at the table. "Artimis, when is Arrietty arriving?" as soon as the words left her mouth Minerva looked slightly troubled, as if she had just made a mistake.

Artimis had told Minerva that she was a single mother, and that her daughter's father had never been in the picture, in the letters they had exchanged arranging her apprenticeship. Minerva didn't press for details, thankfully, only expressing the joy of being able to play the doting grandmother and had arranged the paperwork for Arrietty to enroll in Hogwarts.

"Tomorrow evening, I wanted to get settled in a bit first, to make the adjustment easier on her." Artimis replied.

Severus gave her a distasteful look, "Please tell me you are not talking about a familiar. It's going to be hard enough living with you, I won't be able to tolerate a pet as well. I simply can not do it."

Artimis was shocked, she would have thought Minerva would have already explained all this to her professor. She looked at the older women."You didn't tell him?" she asked Minerva, who was avoiding eye contact and picking at her clothing, telltale signs of someone caught in a lie.

"Well, no, not exactly. I only told him you were to be his apprentice this morning. He would have made my life miserable if I'd told him ahead of time."

"Merlin take me now…" Severus sighed, "I bet it's a cat, then this would be a perfect hell."

Hermione chucked, "He only says that because I have a cat and it hates him. What type of animal is your familiar?"

Artimis glanced between Minerva and her professor, then back to Hermione. "_Oh, this isn't going to be good_…. "She thought.

"Arrietty isn't an animal, she's my daughter."

"YOUR WHAT?!", Severus regarded her disbelievingly. "That's it!"

He shot from his chair so suddenly it fell over behind him. He positioned himself between Artimis and Minerva's chairs, pointing an accusing finger towards the older women.

"You have gone too far Minerva! I have dealt with a lot of your shit over the years, but this time you've just gone too bloody far! Merlin knows how I end up getting screwed over time and time again, letting you deceive and trick me into getting what you want. I only agreed to taking on an apprentice because you made it clear I had no choice. But nowhere in my contract does it say I must play host to a filthy, slobbering infant. _She_ will be too distracted to learn," he said gesturing to Artimis you wore a look of shock, as did everyone else in their little group, though Hermione also looked oddly pleased about something." and _I_ will be driven to madness! No, Minerva. I refuse."

He then turned to Artimis, "As much as I was looking forward to making this next year a living hell for you, this isn't going to work out. I simply cannot live with a child."

"You won't have to." Artimis told him evenly.

"…..What?" Confusing marked his face, mixing with the anger that remained.

"My daughter is 13, she is transferring here to go to school, she will be housed in the dorms like all the other students after the sorting ceremony. She will only have to stay in your quarters for three days, then she will be assigned a room elsewhere."

Severus looked utterly stunned, he wandered back to his seat, which Hermione had set to rights during his temper tantrum, and sat down. He was lost in thought for a few moments, Artimis suspected he was doing the math between her daughter's age and her own. He met her eyes then looked her up and down, distaste in his eyes. Yep. That was most people's reaction to learning she had become a mother at fifteen, that she was some sort of cheap whore of a women. "_If they only knew… "_Artimis thought.

She had never been with anyone else after escaping Orin. After Freeing herself from the violent, abusive man, the last thing Artimis wanted was a boyfriend or lover. She had her daughter and that was all she needed.

"In some ways a teenager is worst than a small child. They are rebellious and indifferent to authority. As are _you_." the professor said to leveling his eyes at her, "From the time I've spent with you today, I can only assume your daughter to be equally, if not more mouthy and offensive. Age aside, I still won't tolerate it, even for only a few days."

Artimis gave him an annoyed look, "She is very introverted, she always has her head in a book, she has excellent manners, and is a very quiet child, you won't even notice she is there. Besides my apprenticeship doesn't start until the term does, so I'll use the next three days to show her around the castle and grounds. I'll keep her out of your rooms as much as possible."

"See Severus," Minerva chimed in, seemly quite pleased she wouldn't need to intervene, "Arrietty seems like a perfectly well behaved young lady, nothing you can't put up with for a meager three days. Now," she said casting her eyes to Artimis, and quickly changing the subject, "let's go get you unpacked."

Their little group rose and said their goodnights swiftly and a bit awkwardly. All except Severus who was glaring at everyone, and receiving some odd looks from Hermione. They all departed from the great hall, going their separate ways, Minerva, Artimis, and Severus headed towards the dungeons.

Stopping in front of his private rooms, Severus went about taking down his wards, as they were numerous, and quite heavy spells for simple living quarters, but they were worth the peace of mind. When he was done he strode in, not bothering to hold the door for a rather annoyed looking Minerva, who had been tapping her foot impatiently since the second ward had come down.

"I expect you to place the wards up every time you enter and leave these chambers. I'll teach you the spells tomorrow." Severus said.

"That's ok, I caught it." Artimis replied, trying to be helpful.

Severus arched an eyebrow at her. Those were the four most difficult warding spells he knew, plus one he had made up, and she seemed confident she could duplicate them after only seeing them done once. _Just how smart is this witch?_

After shutting the door, the two women followed Severus through a large room that seemed to serve as both his living room and a small dining room with a small kitchen attached, and continued down a long hallway. They passed a few open doors on both sides of the hallway, one appearing to lead into an office, another into a beautiful library, another into what looked like a private sitting room. From what Artimis had seen so far, the entirety of the Professor's chambers sported a color scheme of mostly black and varying shades of gray, accented by Slytherin green. The furniture, though sparse, consisted of dark woods and silver embellishments. Severus closed each and every door as they passed them, before coming to stop at the end of the hallway. They were faced with two identical doors directly across from each other.

Severus gestured to the door on the left, before disappearing swiftly into the door on the right and locked it.

"He seems friendly." Artimis offered.

"I know he acts like a complete git sometimes. But try not to be too hard on him, he is a good man." The Headmistress said a bit sadly.

"I'll take your word for it."

"It's true. He sacrificed more than any of us in order to win the war." Minerva looked at Artimis for a long moment, before sighing, "But it's too late in get into all that tonight. Let's get you unpacked and off to bed."

An hour later, Minerva left, only after making sure everything Artimis owned was neatly tucked away. It seemed the house elves had done most of the unpacking, leaving only the small suitcase Artimis had shrunk and was caring in her pocket. She only had a few clothes, two books, a picture of Arrietty, and a handful of toiletries in the trunk, but Minerva fussed over them until they were arranged into perfection. Commenting more than once that Artimis needed more clothes, after seeing her meager wardrobe, and that a shopping trip would be arranged sometime soon. Artimis had groaned at that, she hated shopping, but at least she would be able to spend some quality time with Minerva.

Artimis took a quick shower in her room and slipped into bed just in time for exhaustion set in. She thought about the events of the day as sleep fought to take hold.

"_Why did it have to be him?" _she thought.

She had recognized her Professor immediately, not from the numerous and highly exaggerated stories in the Daily Profit, but from a time in her life she so desperately wanted to put behind her….

It had been the second hardest choice of her life, only behind running away when she was fifteen. Her eyes rested on the darkmark on her left forearm with resentment. Her father always said the only way to defeat the enemy was to know the enemy, apparently her uncle had the same idea with Professor Snape. They had both been pawns, forced to do unspeakable things to prove a loyalty that wasn't there. Artimis made her way into the Dark Lord's inner circle as she had hoped, as did Snape, and she could only imagine what it had cost him.

Now Artimis just had to hope he didn't recognize her, she couldn't recall him ever seeing her without her mask, and she prayed she was right. She had been kept a secret from most of the other deatheaters, the Dark Lord wanting to keep her as his own private prize. Thinking he had turned her against her own uncle had been a pleasurable victory for him.

She was planning to kill him, but the war broke out before she had the chance, and all her efforts were for not. Just another choice coming back to bite her on the ass.

"_This was supposed to be our second chance_," she thought bitterly as tears started to sting her eyes." _Arrietty will never forgive me if I uproot her again"._

She lay there feeling more broken than ever, clinging to the small hope he wouldn't recognize her. He hadn't shown any signs or said anything, after all. She wanted to hate him, for being here, in what she considered her home, for putting her new life in jeopardy. But she couldn't, because she knew what his life must have been like, because hers was the same.

She held herself tightly, curling in a ball, sobbing. She fought back sleep for nearly three hours, wrestling with what to do. Finally, at the peak of exhaustion, she decided to just wait. She would look for signs to his knowing, and if any arose she would simply tell the Professor the truth and hope, _for the love of Merlin_, he would be understanding. From what she had seen of him today, it didn't appear to be one of his strong suites. But she had to hope, it was all she had. With that she calmed slightly, and quietly cried herself to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Severus awoke in a sour mood, to find he had slept past breakfast. Sleep had evaded him, as usual, and he had tossed and turned all night. Though not from the haunting memories and nightmares that usually stole his slumber, but from the smart-mouthed witch across the hall.

Just the thought of someone else being in his rooms while he slept was enough to put him on edge. Severus scowled blackly. It would have been hard enough to accept an apprentice on any terms, but this witch was especially grating. He was off balanced when he was around her and he hated it. Normally his cold demeanor and harsh words were enough to evoke the bravest of Gryffindor to tears, but he found only amusement in the young witch's eyes at his efforts.

The worst part was he couldn't shake the feeling he knew her from somewhere. Not her face, he was sure he'd remember such unique features, but the flounce of curls cascading down her back and the rich, softness to her voice. It was… _unsettling_.

To make matters worse the girl was intelligent, possibly more so than he was.

"_A bloody genius. What was he expected to teach her?_" He sighed.

He would just have to talk to the witch, get an understanding of what she already knew, and go from there. Minerva had made it clear he had to make this work, one year of hell then he would never have to do this again, written neatly into his contract.

"_Which the damn women refused to sign until the year was up…." _He thought sulkily.

Sighing heavily, Severus rose, took a quick shower and went through his morning routine deep in thought. When he emerged from his room he was surprised to hear a faint snore coming from his guest bedroom.

"_Was she really still sleeping?" _Severus glanced at the clock in the hallway; it was nearly 10:30.

Severus sent a dark look towards the closed door and headed for his kitchen. "_This had better not be a normal occurrence"_, he thought as he set a pot of tea to brew. Minerva did say she had come along way, from where he didn't know. Travel was most of the time effortless in the wizarding world between floo networks, apparition, and, for those less civilized, brooms. Where could she have come from that made her trip such a task that she would sleep the day away?

Severus sipped his tea and skimmed over a potions journal he had left lying about. But after only a few moments his mind wandered back to the infuriating witch. It was then that Severus was struck by the fact that since her arrival he hadn't once used her name. To be perfectly honest, he didn't know what to call her.

Miss Dumbledore felt odd, he tried it out loud to himself, "Miss Dumbledore" it felt misplaced on his tongue as well. His usual rich voice marked with uncertainty.

Her last name was also a constant reminder of the man that once controlled half his life. He knew Albus only did what he had to, but it was still a hard pill to swallow. But he couldn't possibly use her first name, could he?

"Artimis", he said to himself, his silky baritone caressing each , he thought. Quite lovely, actually. "_Goddess of the Moon_", if he recalled correctly.

But it wasn't proper to call her by her given name; he was to be her professor after all. His mind slid back to her intelligence and an idea struck him. Perhaps he could make her think of their relationship more as "colleagues". She was certainly smart enough to be a professor in her own right. It would grant him rights to her first name as well as keep her out of his hair. An apprentice needed to be trained and taught, a colleague could simply be sent about their own work. He would have to have that talk with her before he set her loose in his labs, of course. But it seemed like an overall good plan, plus he would give her little more than busy work anyways.

"_She can't be worse than Neville"_, he assured himself.

A glance at the kitchen clock revealed he had been sitting there for almost a half hour, his tea now cold. Dumping it down the drain quickly after hearing the shower kick on, Severus set off for a long walk around the lake, determined to free his thoughts from… Artimis.

Artimis rose groggily, she knew she had slept in the moment she woke up. Her muscles felt stiff and her bones cracked as she freed herself from the tangled blankets. She took a long shower letting the hot water wake her sleepy body. She went about getting ready lazily since she had nowhere to run off to. Taking time to spell her hair dry and massage in a salve to keep her curls from frizzing. Studying her face in the mirror, she ran her fingers over the light purple half moons under her eyes her fretful sleep had caused. She again wished she was the kind of witch that wore makeup. Maybe she could pick some up during Minerva's shopping trip. She knew she had little hope of getting out of it so she might as well indulge slightly.

Sighing, she walked into her bedroom and opened her wardrobe. She only had three sets of robes, all of which were pretty worse for wear. Deciding on muggle clothes once again, she downed black jeans, her boots, a black tank top, and a grey jumper she had somewhat outgrown. The jumper's sleeves only came to her elbows so she quickly cast a glamour her dark mark before leaving her bedroom.

Lucky she did, because when she reached the living room she found Hermione sprawled on a couch reading, her eyes rising as Artimis entered.

"Good morning" Hermione said brightly.

"Is it still considered morning?" Artimis replied with a small smile.

"Well, you did have a pretty big day yesterday"

Artimis was still a bit sleepy headed so she simply nodded.

"Are you all settled in?

"Yes, Minerva and the house elves saw to that."

Hermione started to fidget with the corner of her book, looking more than a bit nervous. Artimis took the opportunity to ask, "I didn't think the professor liked anyone in his rooms. You to seem to be friends, of a sort, but still, wont he be angry?"

Hermione gave her a small smile, "Severus is hardly ever _not_ angry at something or someone. But he gave up trying to kick me out a year ago, so I come and go freely."

Artimis chuckled a little, "I hope he isn't to put out by me being here, I had no idea I was being forced on him."

"Oh, he is fine. The extra human interaction will be good for him; he's the official hermit of Hogwarts. Plus, you seem to be able to hold your own with him, so that's good. Eventually he will see that his glares and sneers don't work on you and ease up some. Severus only enjoys tormenting those he can get a rise out of, so don't let him get to you. Just remember to hang in there, it will get worse before it gets better."

Artimis took in Hermione's kind words of advice."I just hope he eases up at least a little before Arrietty gets here. She is very protective of me, I'd hate for her and the professor to start out on the wrong foot."

Hermione's face took on a look of apprehension. "I was wondering… Well, that is… I had hoped…"

Artimis looked at her a bit confused. Hermione finally sighed, "Will you come sit with me?" she asked as she moved over on the big couch. Artimis walked over and took a seat regarding Hermione expectantly.

Hermione casted her eyes downward, "Well, it was no coincidence we ran into each other this morning, I ran into Severus earlier and he mentioned you had slept in, so I came down here to wait on you. I was hoping we could, umm… talk?"

Artimis raised her brow in interest when Hermione's voice faltered. "Alright. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

Hermione seemed to have only thought this through to the point Artimis would agree to a discussion and took a long moment seeming to decide where to start. "Well, Minerva told me a bit about your situation and well… I wanted to ask what it's like… being a single mother."

Artimis couldn't mask her surprise, she didn't know what she had expected, but it certainly wasn't that. Artimis never really had friends to talk about things with, so the simple personal question made her slightly uncomfortable. "_Why does she want to know?"_, Artimis wondered.

At first she thought maybe Hermione just wanted a piece of hot gossip, Artimis having a daughter had been quite the shock at dinner last night, after all. But Hermione didn't seem the gossiping sort, and seemed slightly distressed over asking her. Artimis decided to answer as truthfully as possible.

"Well… I didn't become a mother under the _best_ circumstances. I was young and alone and completely clueless. It was an uphill battle every step of the way, I had to work hard to support myself and my daughter. I did loads of stuff wrong over the years, I'm sure, but you learn you can't beat yourself up about the little stuff. Because every time I see my daughter's face, I know I've done an alright job, and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. That's the weird thing about kids, just when you are at the end of your rope, they flash you a little smile and it's all worth it"

Artimis smiled fondly at the thought of her daughter, Hermione was a bit misty eyed and smiling as well.

"Does that answer you question?" Artimis asked, a little distressed by Hermione's reaction.

Hermione nodded, still smiling as her tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks.

"Are you, uh, alright?" Artimis asked tentatively

Hermione nodded again, surrendering to her tears and pulling Artimis into a tight hug. Artimis was taken by complete surprise; she wasn't used to hugging, or even touching,

anyone but Arrietty. Minerva was different, she had hugged and mothered over Artimis half her life. But even knowing Hagrid as well as she did, time and distance had made her go rigid in his embrace last night at the feast. But she could tell Hermione was working through something and hugged her back, admittedly a bit awkwardly, letting the witch cry on her shoulder. After a few minutes Hermione drew back and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry", she said blubbering a bit, and "I feel like _all I do_ is cry lately and over the silliest things."

It was as if a light bulb snapped on. "You're pregnant, aren't you?" Artimis asked softly.

Hermione met her eyes, Artimis could see guilt and sadness clouded over by joy, "_Yep, definitely pregnant_." she thought.

Hermione nodded, "I hope we can keep this between us, I only just found out a few weeks ago, and have only told a very few people… I haven't even told my parents yet…"

"_Ah, that's where the guilt is coming from." _Artimis mused in her head, recognizing the emotion all too well.

"Don't worry, I'm not one to spread other's business around. Besides I'd like for us to be friends. The whole 'mom thing' takes some getting used to, especially doing it on your own, so if you need help with anything let me know, ok?"

Hermione gave her a brilliant smile, "Alright, yes, I'd like that. Thank you."

"No problem. So how far along are you?" Artimis asked, regarding Hermione's seemingly flat stomach.

"Four months" Hermione said. Seeing Artimis observing her stomach she added, "I haven't quite started to show yet, but I can feel my robes getting tighter. It won't be too much longer before I can't hide it anymore. I've just been trying to make a plan before I go public."

"Have you been taking prenatal vitamins?" Artimis asked, a bit concerned.

"Yes, Poppy, that's our medi-witch here, and Severus have seen to that."

Artimis had a sudden thought. "Hermione… is Professor Snape the father?"

Having to deal with his own impending fatherhood would explain why he was so against Arrietty staying with him. But Hermione had asked about being a _single_ mother. He was supposedly her friend, if they were lovers, or even if it had been a one time mistake between friends, he still needed to take responsibly.

Hermione's sudden burst of laughter made Artimis think she hadn't quite hit the mark.

"Severus!? Oh, gods no, not Severus!" Erupting in laughter once again clutching her sides from the exertion.

Just then the Artimis heard a door open and close and the man himself walked in. Taking in the scene with a grim expression. His eyes met with Hermione's sending her on yet another tangent of laughter.

"What the hell is the matter with her?" He asked Artimis briskly.

"Uhhhh…. Well, um…." Was all Artimis could manage.

"She- She thought- She thought that _you_ were the father." Hermione choked out between laughs.

The professor regarded her, a look of confusion on his face, suddenly it was replaced by one of realization, then immediately followed by one of disgust.

"I most certainly am not," he said coldly, "I had absolutely no part in the, no doubt redheaded, monster swimming about your uterus."

Hermione gave him an annoyed look, "You don't _know_ the baby will have red hair."

"It's a Weasley."

"No, I refuse to give my child that horrid man's name, it's a Granger."

"Whatever you say, Hermione, but name or not, you can't change the child's genes"

Hermione sighed, "And my baby is not a monster." she said, caressing her hands in light circles over her abdomen

Severus eyed look as if she was an idiot, "It's a _Weasley_."

Artimis looked between the two utterly confused.

Hermione turned to her, seeing she was lost, "Well, you see, I'm recently divorced. I married a man named Ronald Weasley right after graduating. We were best friends and mistakenly thought it was more, it turned out to be a lonely, loveless marriage. My ex-husband developed a very bad drinking problem after the war, only adding to the fact neither of us were really happy. After a while I couldn't take it anymore, so I filed for divorce and came to work here."

"But Minerva mentioned you have worked here for almost two years." The math not adding up in Artimis' head.

"He was as miserable as I was our entire marriage, but he still didn't take me leaving him well. He fought me every step of the way, I've only officially been divorced three months." Hermione said blushing a bit.

"Divorced three months, Pregnant four." Severus mused boardly from an armchair he had taken to while they were talking. "If only you had a higher alcohol tolerance."

Hermione shot him a withering look, then turned back to Artimis, "I went over to his house-"

"You mean you went to his _mother's_ house" Severus interjected.

"Yes, well after I left he couldn't afford to keep ours. But anyway, I went over there with the intention to make him sign the divorce papers. He was drinking, as usual, and refused. We started yelling, I started drinking, one thing led to another, and well, you can guess the rest. But he _did_ sign the papers the next morning."

"Have you told him about the baby?" Artimis asked, still a bit shocked.

Hermione nodded, a sad smile crossing her face, "He doesn't care, he wants nothing to do with my baby. It's just as well; I don't want my child growing up with a father like that."

"I know how hard it is to go it alone, like I said, if you ever need anything just let me know, ok? I'll help in whatever way I can." Artimis rubbed her shoulder reassuringly, truly meaning every word.

"Thank you so much." Hermione said, once again embracing Artimis.

Somewhat disturbed by the emotional display Severus rose from his seat, "Come Hermione, lunch should be wrapping up soon and you can't afford to skip any meals" he said striding towards the door not waiting for either of them.

They arrived in the great hall just as lunch was ending and most of the staff was filing out. Neville waved them over, and they took their seats at the large table still in the center of the room. He pulled out Hermione's chair and made sure she was settled before doing the same for Artimis.

"Where are your manners Severus?" Neville quipped teasingly.

He then rounded the table and took a seat across from the women, next to an unamused Professor Snape. The meal went smoothly, Artimis discussing this and that with Hermione and Neville, all the while the professor stayed eerily quiet. They had all finished eating and were sipping tea when a familiar, small snowy owl swooped down in front of Artimis.

"Brax, what are you doing here?" Artimis asked stroking the bird's head. Noticing the confused looks around the table she explained, "This is Braxton, my daughter's owl."

The little, white owl gave a hoot at the mention of Arrietty, and held his small leg out to Artimis. She unwrap the letter and feed him a scrap of steak from her plate. She could recognize her daughter's sharp handwriting anywhere, her brow furrowed in concern as she read.

_Dear Mom,_

_I'm writing to inform you I don't think I'll be arriving on time. There is a blizzard headed for the mountain and it may be a few days until it's safe to travel to the apparition point. I'll keep this short so hopefully Braxton can beat the storm and make it to you safely. I just didn't want you to worry. I hope you are doing well, please take care of Braxton until I arrive. I'll be there as soon as I can._

_Love, Arrietty._

_P.S. I already miss you a bunch._

When she was done reading she was met with three expectant looks. She quickly recounted the letter to her new friends, and the professor, who seemed quite pleased Arrietty would be late. And explained her was daughter was staying with the wizarding monks of Vinson Massif until she was settled in.

"Why not just use a portkey?" Severus asked, surprising everyone at the table after his long stint of silence.

"Because now that Arrietty isn't homeschooled anymore she can't use magic outside of Hogwarts. The monks are _able_ to do it, but they take strict vows against abusing magic for convenience. They only use their magic to live off of and give back to the earth."

Her explanation was met with an unimpressed look from her professor. "She is just so damn independent, even for thirteen, I was convinced it would be no trouble for her to stay behind for a day or two before making the trip by herself. Now I wish I had just brought her with me, I hope she is ok." She added.

"I'm sure she will be fine, don't worry. Its best she stays put until the storm blows over anyway."Hermione said comfortingly.

"And don't worry about Braxton; I'm heading to the owlery to send off a few letters, I'll make sure he feels right at home." Neville said helpfully as he rose from the table.

"Thank you so much." Artimis said.

"Don't mention it," Neville replied, then turned to address the owl, "Ready to go?"

Braxton gave a delighted little hoot and fluttered up to perch on Neville's shoulder.

"I think I'll tag along if you don't mind. I've been putting off sending a letter to my parents" Hermione said.

Artimis flashed her a supportive smile, "Good luck."

And with that she was alone with her professor once more. He was staring at her left arm sitting atop the table. Feeling self conscious she dropped it to her lap and gave him a questioning look.

"Why are you wearing a glamour on your arm?"

_Shit_. Her stomach dropped in fear and she was sure her face gave her away, "Well…. I- I just- Ummm… I have a… I have a scar!" She said a bit too brightly as she came up with a logical lie.

"A scar?" His voice alone was enough to know he didn't believe her.

"Yes." She said a bit too defensively.

"And how, pray tell, did you come to have a scar in such an…. _Interesting_ spot?"

"Well, there _was_ recently a war, perhaps you read about in the paper." She shot back sarcastically.

His eyes narrowed and she immediately knew she had made a mistake. Mentioning she had fought in the war, coupled with his obvious suspicions of her arm, she might as well have screamed she had been a deatheater in his face. He seemed to be deciding something, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, Minerva came bustling through the door and interrupted him.

"There you are." She said looking at Artimis as she walked over and joined them, taking Hermione's abandoned seat. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

Artimis, glad for the disruption, regarded the women happily, "Sorry about that, I slept in pretty late, between traveling and the excitement of arriving, I was exhausted."

"I hope you don't plan to make a habit of sleeping the day away." Severus said coldly.

Minerva gave him an annoyed look, opened her mouth to scold him, but this time she was the one cut off.

"I assure you today was rare occurrence, I'm usually up with the sun. I think I just needed a day to adjust to the time difference, I'm sure I'll be back on track by tomorrow." He regarded her with a bored expression, but didn't comment.

"Why so early?" Minerva asked.

"I like to run in the mornings, take in the fresh air, clear my head."

Minerva eyes cut to Professor Snape giving him an amused smirk, Artimis didn't understand why, but whatever it was professor didn't seem happy.

"You said you were looking for me?" Artimis asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Oh, yes!" The older women said turning back to her excitedly, "I was coming to tell you I moved some things around in my schedule and we can go on our shopping trip tomorrow after breakfast. That way Arrietty will have had some time to get settled. I was even thinking of inviting Hermione and turning it into a full blown girl's day"

"Well, actually…" Artimis went on to recount the letter her daughter had sent her.

"The poor dear, well we can still go tomorrow, and I'll just have to take her out when she arrives for her own special day. We can pick up her school robes, grab some lunch, get to know one another and stuff of that sort. It will give me a chance to play grandmother."

"I think she would like that" Artimis said smiling.

Minerva regarded her as if just remembering something, "Do you have anything pressing to attend to right now? I'd like you to join me in my office, there are some things I'd like us to talk about, privately."

Artimis spared a glance towards her professor, who was still eyeing her suspiciously. "Nope, I'm all yours" Artimis said brightly, rising to leave with Minerva. However, before they had taken even a few steps, he spoke.

"Miss Dumbledore, I too need to speak with you when you have the time. Perhaps when you are finished with Minerva you can join me in my classroom to discuss your position here." As he spoke his eyes never left her arm, making it perfectly clear he wasn't referring to her apprenticeship.

She gave a simply nod, to nervous to speak, before thankfully Minerva whisked her away, out of the room.

Minerva chatted merrily about their shopping trip the whole way to her office. Artimis quickly realized the woman was mostly talking to herself and tuned her out. Breathing deeply, she struggled hard to calm her nerves. She knew it would only be a matter of time before the professor found out; _he was a spy after all._ But she had hoped she would have had more time to connect to the people here, maybe then they wouldn't judge her as harshly or ask her to leave, or worse send her to Azkaban. She fought hard against tears that threaten to fall. _What was she going to do?_


	5. Chapter 5

In the large circular room, the Headmistress called an office Artimis sat in a comfortable, plush chair and stared wide-eyed at the papers in her hand, not quite believing what the parchment claimed. Minerva sat behind her desk waiting patiently, sharing a smile with Albus' portrait to her left.

Her Uncle Albus had been overjoyed to see her, sparing no time, he had rushed to the forefront of his frame and beckoned her forward. Immediately asking her about her adventures around the world, and the little girl she had raised, never once bringing up how or why she had left, only telling her how happy he was to have her back in the castle.

With some not so subtle prompting from Minerva the conversation had taken on a more formal tone as the Headmistress slide a thick envelop across her desk toward Artimis.

"In my will you have always been my main beneficiary, before you left and after, I've always held faith you would return and claim your birthright as heir to the Dumbledore line."

Artis glanced down at the envelop, making no move to take it, "What do you mean?" She asked, stunned, "You kept me in your will all this time, even after I ran away?"

"Of course, my dear. I never blamed you for wanting your freedom and after all, you are my favorite niece." Albus said with a light smile.

Artimis rolled her eyes at him, "Im your _only_ niece."

"Not true, in case you have forgotten. I recently found out I have a _great _niece," he said pointedly, "who I'm very eager to meet, by the way. Minerva has been filling me in from the letters you have sent, she sounds like a wonderful girl. That being said, you will always be my favorite." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

Minerva cut in, "I think perhaps we are getting a bit off track. Albus why don't you explain to Artimis the responsibilities that come along with resuming the Dumbledore name."

Albus looked only a bit dejected for being pulled away from his fun and cleared his throat, resuming in a more serious tone.

"You see, the majority of my will was carried out years ago immediately after my death, most of my private funds and artifacts going to charities, a few personal items to closes friends and colleagues. But many items and funds were to be handed on the the closest living relative of the Dumbledore name. Since you were still…. _away_ when I passed we had no way of finding you."

"But now that you are back…" Minerva pushed on eagerly.

"Yes, now that you are back, the Dumbledore vault and family estate are now in your name, as well and the responsibility to maintain the house's condition and, of course, keep it in the family."

When he had finished, Minerva prompted Artimis to open the envelope. And there she sat, staring first at papers in her hand then back at them as if they were mad. The bank statement from Gringotts showed that her name had been placed on a vault with more wizarding and muggle money than could ever be spent in one lifetime, even with the most frivolous spending and extravagant lifestyle. Artimis' eyes held unshed tears,

"_All these years of barely scraping by, not being able to give Arrie the life she deserved, and all this was waiting for us. We've been through hell just for the sake of my pride…" _She thought sulkily.

"Whats the matter my dear?" Minerva asked worriedly.

At that she looked up at them, embarrassed to be caught in such a weak moment she quickly wiped her eyes. "It's just-" she started but her voice betrayed her.

Minerva sprang up and rounded her desk coming to stand before the young women. Reaching out Minerva held her gently to her side. "I know its alot to take in. You haven't had the life you were raised in for quite some time, it can be a bit overwhelming"

Relaxing into her surrogate mother's embrace, Artimis sighed heavily.

"In my heart I know I had to leave all those years ago…. But my head keeps telling me if I had come back sooner, I could have given my daughter a better life. A life where she wouldn't have had to do without, and she wouldn't have had to watch me barely scrape by to give her the little we did have."

Minerva pulled back and looked at Artimis fondly, "My dear, you have grown into an amazing woman, your uncle and I are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished. There is no doubt in my mind that you have given that little girl of yours more love than than she could ever imagine. So she has seen you work hard? Good. So she hasn't had anything handed to her? Good. I have no doubt in my mind you have raised a smart, level-headed daughter, someone who knows how to fight hard for what they want in life. You should be proud of yourself my dear"

Artimis gave a weak smile, Minerva was right, her daughter had learned the hard way to stand on her own two feet, but she always knew her mother would be there to catch her if she were to fall. She felt a pang in her chest, she missed Arrietty, it had only been a few days, but she missed her little girl more than anything. Storms on the mountain could last up to a week or two, how she would go that long without seeing her daughter she didn't know.

Pulling herself from her thoughts she gave Minerva's arm a light squeeze and disentangled herself from her grip. Crossing her Ablus' portrait she raised her hand to his frame affectionately. "Thank you Uncle Albus." she said happily, "You have no idea what it means to me that you held faith I'd return. Now I have the funds to give my daughter the life she deserves." Her eyes once again filled with tears as her uncle smiled brightly.

"I know what you have been through Artimis," he started seriously, making her jump a bit.

_How could he know? …. What could he know? _

"Just remember, that after all you have been through, to give _yourself_ the life you deserve as well" he said, finishing with a gentle smile.

After they had shared a moment Minerva cleared her throat and went on to explain that the Dumbledore estate had been vacant for over five years and with Artimis' permission she would help her to see to the repairs. Also mentioning the long list of things that would need to be seen to in the coming weeks including the Dumbledore charities would need tending to, the vaults needed to be cataloged and linked to Artimis' magical signature, there were a few minor properties left to her that she would need to fix up and either rent out in her absence or sell, and last but not least now that she was back to using her birth name she would need to register her Masteries with the Ministry.

Seeing that Artimis was getting more than a little overwhelmed Minerva called for tea and the three of them set about making a schedule to deal with the damage five years of neglect had done to the Dumbledore name, and all that came with it.

About an hour later plans had been made and forms had been signed, and MInerva was beaming with accomplishment. Artimis on the other hand was a nervous wreck, feeling the meeting coming to a close left her with little other option than to go and speak with her Professor.

_He knew, and she knew he knew…. Was it really too much to hope for a little more time before anyone found out? But he had been a spy just like her, she should've expected it._

Being a spy had not come naturally to Artimis, she had to struggle everyday to deal with the horrors and secrets of war, and when it was finally over she had shed the persona immediately. She now cursed herself for being so careless, thinking she could hide her past with a simple glamour spell, and slip it by a double agent to boot. Gods…. and being back was just starting to feel right, she felt she was finally on a good path to build a real future for herself and Arrie. The thought it could all be ripped away in an instant was too much to bare. Weighing the pros and cons in her mind, trying to deduce the option that had the least likely chance of getting her sent to Azkaban, she decided to take the lesser of two evils.

Gathering her courage, she looked up from her tea and got the attention of her would-be parents. Taking a deep breath to steady herself her started to speak, "I need to talk to you both about something…" she said weakly.

Instantly understanding the seriousness in her voice Minerva and Albus shared a look and nodded for her to continue.

Artimis closed her eyes, taking a moment to calm her nerves. "I think Im going to need your help and with all you both have done for me I hate to ask more of you, but it's important. Not just for me, but for Arrietty aswell, I need to be around to take care of her and without your help…. Well I don't see that being possible."

Minerva held a very worried look on her face, "My dear, what are you talking about? Are you in some sort of trouble?" she asked cautiously

Artimis tried to find the best way to answer, but her nerves got the best of her and she just started speaking aimlessly,

"No, Im not in… Well, I was… If anybody found out… But i'm sure _he_ already knows… we are kind of in the same boat… but the ministry… those bastards would never… Oh Merlin…."

Seeing the worry on their faces mix with confusion she sighed, drew her wand and swiftly removed the glamour to her forearm before she could second guess herself.

Minerva gasped and Albus raised his eyebrows so far Artimis thought they would leap off his painting and fly away. The room was so deathly silent Artimis could barely breathe.

"You were a deatheater?" Minerva asked, being the first to find her voice. She was staring at Artimis as if she was a stranger rather than the closest thing to a daughter she had.

Artimis nodded, "Yes, during the war I _pretended_ to be a deatheater. I infiltrated their ranks and worked my way into the inner circle. I was kept as a prize of the dark lord, he thought he had turned your own family against you." she said looking at her uncle, willing him to understand, praying for him not to send her away.

"But…. why? Why did you do it?" Minerva asked, reaching out for Artimis' hand all the while tears slipped down the older women's cheeks.

"To be thy enemy, is to know thy enemy" Albus said quietly avoiding eye contact with the women in the room, "Your father would had taught you that, just as our father did…."

Artimis nodded solemnly, "I committed myself to the facade for almost a year, when I finally had Voldemort's trust I was going to kill him. But then the battle started, and I couldn't bring myself to fight against the light, even to keep up appearances, so I fled. Taking up posts at healing stations and acting as a medi-witch, to help anyway I could."

Artimis waited, waited for them to scream, and yell, and tell her they didn't believe her, call for aurors to take her away, but they didn't. In fact Minerva was up and holding her in seconds.

"Oh you poor child, putting yourself through all that, you are so brave my dear."

Artimis was shocked and went rigid in the arms of the older woman who was trying to rock her back and forth and place motherly kisses to the top of her head.

"Albus" MInerva spoke, "Contact Kingsley and ask him to come immediately." Albus nodded and disappeared from his portrait. "We will get this all sorted out my dear, don't worry about a thing."

If Artimis had envisioned anything beyond telling them going as smoothly as it did, it would have consisted of court cases, lawyers and lengthy trials, fighting for her freedom, fighting to prove her innocence…. and she would have been wrong. The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt himself had shown up with two of his personal aurors and Minerva had taken charge immediately. Artimis was asked to tell her story in depth, from the very beginning when she first joined Voldemort until the event of the final battle, then she was questioned thoroughly, first by the two aurors then by the Minister himself. Artimis was then asked to extract memories showing proof of her defying the dark lord, to which she had an abundance, proving she was indeed secretly fighting for the Light. Minerva offered the use of Albus' pensieve, which she still kept neatly tucked away in her office.

By dinner time Artimis Rennay Dumbledore was exonerated and was a free women, Minerva had left them little other choice to make. The older women had sat beside Artimis on her office sofa and held her hand the whole time, every time an auror had the nerve to question Artimis' loyalties Minerva had gone on the defencive like the true mother lion she was to protect her cub. All the while Albus had smiled fondly at her antics.

Deciding to get ahead of the press Minerva had floo called a former student of her's, a starry-eyed young women named Luna Lovegood who worked for a paper called 'The Quibbler'. Artimis and Kingsley (as he had told her to call him) sat down for an in depth interview with more than a little fabrication on the Minister's part, claiming Artimis to be a secret member of the Order all along and she was only now safe to resume her life now that the last of the deatheaters had been caught. He went on many times saying she was nothing less than a hero and should be treated as such. Artimis chuckled heavily at that, she was no hero, merely someone who had wanted to kill Voldemort, but weren't they all?

Artimis had taken an instant liking to the dreamy girl giving her interview and was able to relax in her company and speak freely. Artimis felt like she was in the middle of a three ringed circus, being pulled between the aurors, the Minister, and Minerva, but in a slight lull she had been able to have a brief conversation with the young blonde reporter. Artimis was extremely interested in the prospect of a paper that only printed news that was proven to be true, a far leap from the rubbish 'The Daily Prophet' churned out. Luna seemed to brighten when talking about her work, the same way Artimis knew herself to do when learning, she respected her for being so passionate and dedicated to what she believed in. Artimis smiled when talking to Luna, she seemed like a beacon for all things good and happy. The young women agreed to meet for coffee sometime in the near future before they were pulled back to the matter at hand.

It was mid-evening before goodbyes were said and Minerva and Artimis made their way to the great hall to catch the end of dinner. On their way in they passed a large group of teachers Artimis hadn't been introduced to yet. Having had a long day she quietly excused herself to let Minerva deal with her duties as Headmistress. Walking into the great hall she was somewhat distracted, taking inventory of how the room had been changed just since lunch. Instead of one large table there were now four, each with a long embroidered tablecloth of their respected house colors. At the back of the room there was one long table raised by a platform, with chairs only on one side, facing out towards the other tables below. There were a few teachers at both of the fair ends who were no longer eating, merely sipping tea and chatting among themselves. In the direct center of the table sat a throne-like chair for the Headmaster or Headmistress to sit. Artimis smiled fondly remembering her summers here as a very young child, her Uncle Albus would let her sit in his chair and play princess, ruling over the great hall. She chuckled, now as an adult she saw his ulterior motives behind the gesture, stating on more than one occasion that "Princesses have to eat all of their food, even their vegetables, or they will be dethroned".

She was pulled quickly from her musing as the door to the staff entrance banged open and shut and the dark imposing figure of the potions master strood in, taking his seat to the left of the center chair. Artimis panicked. With all the excitement of her exoneration she had somehow completely forgotten about her meeting with her professor. Having the day she had had Artimis was exhausted, all she wanted to do was eat and then go to bed, confident that she would not be hauled away to prison anytime soon. But luck, as it seemed, was not on her side, as she immediately felt the weight of a certain slytherin's eyes boring into her. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, seeing the anger dwelling deep in his black orbs Artimis suddenly became very intensely interested in the charmed ceiling, tonight simply displaying the starry night sky. Hearing her professor scoff at her childish behavior and the sound of footsteps approaching behind her Artimis turned and smiled brightly.

"_I wouldn't care if it was Voldemort himself coming to drag me with him to hell, anything would be better than facing that man right now…_" She thought miserably.

Turning she found that Minerva had finally freed herself from the hoard of teachers and was approaching her, returning her smile.

"You look lost my dear." Minerva said jokingly.

"Uhhhh yeahhh… Just not sure where to, um, sit, thats all" Artimis replied telling a half truth.

"You sit with us at the high table, of course. You are an apprentice here, you'll be assisting Severus in class and will need the children's respect to do so. If you were to take your meals with the students they would see you as a peer instead of an authority figure."

Artimis merely nodded and let Minerva lead her up towards the teacher's table, taking great care to avoid the eyes of Professor Snape. Minerva remained thankfully oblivious to the potion master's brooding, taking her seat at the center of the table, depositing Artimis to her right. The women had barely started eating when Neville came rushing into the hall looking mussed, his robes covered in debris.

"Headmistresssss…." He heaved breathlessly, gasping for air, "It's… the herbology class..room… It's crumbling again…"

Minerva was on her feet in an instant, "This damn castle! Five years!" she cursed as she rounded the table and joined Neville, "Five bloody years it's been since the war and still this place is falling apart! Sometimes I think it does it on purpose!" She ranted the whole way down the center aisle and continued out the main door dragging a wide eyed Neville behind her. "I have you fixed up, painted, I even have fresh polish put on your stairs and this is how you repay me? Just wait until you throw a tantrum like this with the students here! Dropping bricks on the head's of my teachers is bad enough, but what's going to happen when you send a Hufflepuff to the infirmary with a conciousion? I'll have to close the school, and where will you be when you then?"

She looked like a certified lunatic shouting at nothing, addressing the castle directly as if it were a person. Artimis couldn't help but giggle as she heard Minerva's voice fading down the hallway.

"I'm glad you are in such a good mood, maybe then you'll be inclined to tell me why you decided it was a good idea to disobey a direct order from your professor"

His voice was the same bored tone Artimis had heard him use nearly every time he spoke, but now she could feel a bite to the words he directed at her. Glancing to her left she now realized that with Minerva gone she was in direct line of fire to his wrath.

Deciding to skirt the issue as much as possible Artimis feigned innocence, "But I didn't disobey you, sir."

His eyes narrowed dangerously, "Just so I know you aren't stupid enough to have forgotten, tell me, what exactly did I ask of you?"

Artimis dared to flash him is mischievous smile, suspecting her intelligence to be a sore spot to him, "Now professor, you and I both know _I'm_ not stupid." The end of her sentence was punctuated by his fist connecting hard with the table. "Did that make you feel better?" She asked him bluntly, "Or does your hand just hurt now?"

He stared at her as if she had slapped him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning to her and speaking through his teeth, his voice barely above a whisper, "I told you to come to my classroom as soon as Minerva was finished with you. What part of my directions were unclear YOU INSUFFERABLE SLAG!?"

Artimis was unphased by his sudden raise of voice, but seeing the remaining teachers shoot dirty looks their way and swiftly move to leave, Artimis decided to tuck into her pasta dish before it went cold, waiting to continue their conversation only when the last teacher had exited. Seeing him look on her procrastination with outrage, Artimis took a long, slow drink from her water goblet before turning to him and speaking.

"First off, that was rude." She said matter-a-factly, "Second of all, I have not disobeyed you, I have every intention of meeting you in your classroom after dinner."

"You were supposed to meet me after your meeting with Minerva, which had to have been over _hours ago_."

"Actually our meeting only ended a few moments before we came to dinner, and Minerva insisted I eat before fulfilling my obligation to meet with you."

"What in the name of Merlin could have taken _all day_ to discuss?"

"That's my business."

"You could have at least sent notice of you would need to postpone, I had more important things to do other than wait around half the bloody day!"

He immediately recoiled, realizing he had lost the upperhand in the argument by admitting he had waiting around on her to show up. Artimis chuckled in her head, never cracking her towardly neutral mask, _"You are all about power plays, aren't you professor? Well nice try, but I just took your king, checkmate!" _She thought with a smile.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," She said, lacing her voice with a sickly sweet tone, "But you know what they say, 'absence make the heart grow fonder'"

"Are you incapable-" He started.

"Probably not, no, I'm extremely capable." Artimis said cutting him off with a smile between bites of her pasta.

With his eye shooting daggers her way, he started again stoically, "Are you incapable of having a serious conversation, even for a few seconds? Do you not realize you are wasting your time? I see right through the untouchable smartass routine you have going."

"Do you not realize that I see right through the untouchable asshole routine _you_ have going?"

"Is it going to be like this all year? Because if so I will not stand for it! You will respect me as your superior!"

"Tell me, what exactly have you done or said that is deserving of my respect?" At seeing his stunned face, she continued, "You were put in a superior position to me by circumstance, you didn't earn it, so stop bragging. The first thing you ever said to me was an insult and have said little else since, so I don't see how you have a lot of room to complain about how I speak to you. Finally, you do have my respect, as a potions master, I've read about your work and I know you are the best there is. However as a person, you leave a lot to be desired in way of manners. I treat people exactly how they treat me professor, so if you think I'm going out of my way to be difficult and playing games with you instead of speaking to you like an adult, then what does that tell you about yourself?"

They shared a long look, then both returned to their meals in stunned silence, neither quite believing she had had the nerve to say such a bold statement to her professor. Artimis tried her best to control her aggravation as she forced herself to continue eating her meal. A quick sidelong glance to Professor Snape showed that even as he cut and chewed his steak in a mechanical fashion, he was taking sallow, measured breathes through a clench jaw. It was awkward, to say the least, they were the only two people left in the entire great hall and the silence was pure torture, the only sound that pervaded the air were that of their utensils. It stretched on for what felt like hours and by the time Minerva returned Artimis was fidgeting uncontrollably. Thankful once again the older women lived half in her own little world and didn't feel the air crackling with anger between the Professor and herself. Welcoming the distraction Artimis was all too happy to chat idly with the older woman about the wonderful shopping day they would have tomorrow as they finished their dinner together. Artimis secretly thinking that it couldn't come soon enough, that way they didn't have to talk about it anymore...

At the beginning of the meal Artimis at been loathed to discover she had forgotten to replace the glamour on her arm, and subsequently been forced to eat with her right hand, keeping her dominant arm cradled in her lap. Unfortunately after her heated argument with her professor and trying to keep up with MInerva's ramblings Artimis was feeling the weight of the day drain her. So when she was asked to pass the milk for their after meal cuppa instinct took over and her left hand jutted out towards the the small kettle displaying her darkmark for the world to see.

Before Artimis had even realized her mistake she saw the telltale movement of a wand being drawn in her peripheral vision and reacted in kind. They were on their feet in an instant, Minerva between them trashing her head from side to side trying to figure out what was happening. Artimis saw his lip start to form a curse, panicking she yelled, "Aqua Eructo"

Suddenly a gigantic stream of water started gushing from the tip of her wand with enough force to knock her professor on his ass and send his wand skirting away under the table, drenching him in the process.

Minerva rose from her chair to stand next to Artimis, fighting hard to keep a straight face, small giggles escaped the corners of her lips as she looked on Severus as he sputtered and coughed up small bits of water, his soaked hair framing his face much to the likeness of a wet hound. Artimis on the other hand was still on the defence, her body rigid and her eyes hard.

Severus rose slowly, his face a stern mask. There was a frightening aspect to his demeanor, so calm and collected, all the while the air around him humid with rage and crackling with magic. Collecting his wand he walked with a measured pace back to stand in front of the women.

"Headmistress it seems we have a deatheater in the castle. Please call an auror to take her away." and with that he turned and strode from the room with as much dignity as he could muster being he was still dripping wet.

Minerva tried to protest but the door to the staff entrance was slammed shut before she could finish her sentence. Artimis looked on the older women sheepishly.

"It was only a little water, I don't know what he is so pissy about"

She was met with a very unamused Minerva when the older woman replied, "That's hardly the point Artimis, you attacked your professor!"

"Attacked?! Are you shitting me?"

"Language young lady!"

"Im sorry Minerva," Artimis spoke a tone that was clear she wasn't the least bit sorry, "But calling what just happened an attack is a far stretch, don't you think? He drew his wand on me first! I was just defending myself."

"I highly doubt Severus is going to see it that way."

"Well unfortunately for Professor Snape his warped sense of reality doesn't change what actually happened. His only reason for raising his wand on me is he believes me to be a deatheather, but as we both know that isn't true, so he had no grounds to do what he did."

"He had no way of knowing that Artimis. If you could even imagine what he has had to endure…."

"I dont have to imagine Minerva, I lived it too."

"Even after the final battle? Even after Voldemort fell, did you still have to fight for your life then? Because he did."

Artimis let her face display her confusion, "What are you talking about Minerva?"

The older women gestured for her to sit and Artimis complied. Minerva, taking her own seat, looked pensive, her eye betrayed her and Artimis saw grief within them. "You have to understand, Severus was a double agent for much longer than you. I have no doubt you and he shared the same pain, thrusting yourselfs into an impossible situation, putting yourselfs through hell to fight a war you truly wanted no part of, sacrificing your lives for all of us…. But as horrible as I'm sure it was for you, could you imagine having to keep up the facade for over a decade?"

Things clicked into place deep in her mind and Artimis shook her head in shame. "You're right. I was undercover for less than a year and i nearly lost myself. Being so close to the dark lord has an effect on people… their minds play tricks until you can't tell wrong from right, enemy from friend. I can't imagine trying to pull it off as long as he did. It very nearly drove me insane the short time I was there…."

Minerva nodded, "He was fatally wounded during the battle, it's a miracle he survived, still he was in a coma for months after, withering away in front of me. Even after he came out of it he still acted like a dieing man… Deatheaters tried to take the castel few times after the war, and even after most of them were caught we still had roughs turning up here to try and assassinate him. He was so lost to the world I thought sometimes he was just waiting for the next one to kill him, and maybe this time he would let them. He felt it was what he deserved after all he had done…. It took a very long time for him to turn himself around and truly start healing, thinking of his survival as the gift it was instead a some kind of mistake."

Artimis' eyes watered and her nose burned from fighting off tears, "I had no idea that's why he is cold… I wish I hadn't-" She tried to finish but she couldn't, the day had been both wonderful and horrible to her and she needed it to end, she didn't have the energy to continue.

Minerva's motherly sixth sense kicked in and she reached out for the young women, giving her a fierce hug and smoothing her hair, "You've had a long day, why don't you head of for bed?"

As if taking Minerva's side the clock rang out eleven chimes and Artimis was helpless but to succumb to a long yawn. With her eyes cast down she spoke, her voice raw with exhaustion, "I can't face him tonight, I know I'll have to sooner or later, but tonight I just cant…"

"You are right my dear, the two of you do need to clear the air about all this, but you're going to need a clear head to do it." Minerva said as she hoisted Artimis from her chair, "So for tonight you will stay with in my rooms and I'm going to go talk to him."

Seeing Artimis open her mouth to object Minerva raised her hand to silence her, "You need your rest, he'll still be there for you to bicker with in the morning. But as we speak he is probably in the dungeon packing your things, thinking he has gotten out of taking you on as an apprentice. I wont tell him anything he won't soon be able to read in 'The Quibbler', only that you are not a threat and that you are staying on to finish your apprenticeship. Now off to bed with you before you spill out here on the floor."

Artimis smiled and nodded at the older women, excepting one last hug before they parted silently. Artimis lazy shuffling toward the Headmistress's chambers, in search of a bed to fall into, while Minerva set her jaw and started purposely down towards the dungeons.

Arrietty Dumbledore sat in her small bedroom of the monastery the Wū shù wizarding monks called home. High up in the far east tower, the walls were rough stone, moss growing between the cracks, huge bay windows locked out the cold, reflecting the growing storm nature had cast down on the monastery in their panes, as well as the storm inside. Arrietty stood brooding beside her pack suitcases, staring out the window, _"Fly safe Brax, I'll be there soon." _

She thought reaching out to touch the window. She missed her mother, they had only ever been apart for the war. But in those times, even being as young as she was, Arrietty had her work with the monks to keep her occupied, helping with wounded and brewing healing balms. She convinced herself the harder she worked the sooner her mother would be able to come home.

At least then there was a reason for them to be apart, Arrietty found it odd her mother wouldn't want her to arrive with her, they did everything together after all. Maybe that was the reason…. Arrietty and her mother had talked many times and at great lengths about the codependence issue they both shared. They were more than mother and daughter, they were best friends, and the only family the each other had….

Arrietty knew her mother had run away from home when she was only a little older than Arrietty herself was now. She knew her mother had left for good reasons, though she was never told any details, she knew her mother had only left her home and family to keep them both safe. But that meant that they were all the other had in the world, and they were near inseparable. But Arrietty was getting older and was a teenager now, striking out on her own with independance. And it was a hard adjustment for both of them.

But this was a good first step, spending a night or two apart, but the weather had different plans.

Arrietty had spoken with the monks over dinner, most of which thought the storm was no worse than any other they had had up on the mountain and that it would dissipate in a week or so. But that would leave her away from her mother for a whole week and she would miss the start of term at her new school. As if she wasn't already nervous enough….

Arrietty wasn't used to being around witches and wizards her own age, she had been raised almost exclusively around adults. Her mother had home schooled her, with a few classes here and there with whatever master her mother was working with at the time. They moved around so much it was pointless to try and make friends, she had tried a few times in the beginning but a few months after moving the owls back and forth would lessen and lessen until they would stop altogether. That's why her mom became her best friend. Their age difference as mother and daughter made other adults treat her mom poorly, so mom doesn't really have many friends either. That's why they needed each other, they were all the other had and no stupid storm was going to get in the way of that.

"_Ok_," she thought, glancing at the clock on the wall, "_now or never."_

Returning to her mother's bed she sighed at the familiarity as she huddled into the mess of blankets, in her hands a magical tome.

"_Better make this quick before the monks or the Ministry catch on…._ "she thought.

To her left sat a candle, etched into it were ancient markings, exact copies of those the tomb displayed. Grabbing the candle she inspected it once more, tracing her fingers over the markings, taking inventory of each one. Moving off the bed she stepping over small piles of discarded wax scrapes on the floor, she walked to the exact middle of the room and sat down cross legged, setting the candle in front of her. Taking a small knife from her pocket she swiftly cleaned it on her shirt removing a thick waxy coating. holding her hands above the candle she cleared her mind, focusing all of her magic, all of her strength. Feeling a slight wind in the air, hearing the clock chime midnight, she knew it was time. Quickly and efficiently she sliced a thin line down her palm, dripping exactly 12 drops of blood onto the candle's wick, one for every chime. As the twelfth drop landed the candle jumped to life with flame, casting a soft glow, the light began to spread and intensified, growing and growing, until every corner of the room was flooded with blinding white light. As quickly as it was there it was gone, the only evidence was the still lit candle emitting soft innocent light and the hum of magic in the air.

Arrietty took a moment to breath in deeply letting the magic fill her, then she sprung into action. Retrieving her wand from her bed she healed the cut to her hand, and shrunk the tomb she had been reading, moving toward the windows she pointed her wand and shrunk her luggage down to the size of coins and slipped them into her pockets along with the tomb. Giving the room a once-over, taking care not to forget anything she moved to the small desk in the corner of her room. She ran her hand over the sealed envelope addressed to Master Yin, fighting off the feeling of guilt and reflecting on how much she would miss her temporary home.

"_It's not forever,"_ she reminded herself, _"just until I finish school, and we will be back in the summers to visit, I'm sure"_

Pulling herself from her thoughts she pulled a quill from the desk drawer and set it down. As she raised her wand a thought popped into her head, she turned and cast a quick charm on both her and her mother's beds and in an instant the sheets and blankets were folding and smoothing themselves.

"_Bad enough to be leaving without permission or a goodbye, but the monks would kill me if I didn't tidy first."_ she thought humorously.

Turning back to the desk she redirected her wand towards the quill, "Portus", the quill shown a faint gold light. With a deep breath Arrietty counted down in her head.

60….59….58….57….56….55….

Her breathing became uneven as her nerves took hold and she willed herself to keep counting.

38….37….36….35….34….33….

Her hand shook as it hovered over the quill.

17….16….15….14….13….12….

"Here I come mom…."

5….4….3….2….1!

Arrietty reached down and grabbed the quill off the desked and with a pop she was gone.


End file.
